Israeli officials visited Egypt earlier this week, in a renewed effort to secure an agreement, but a Palestinian official close to mediation efforts said there had been no sign of a breakthrough.
In a televised speech ahead of Friday’s Al-Quds (Jerusalem) Day, Ismail Haniyeh said Hamas would not retreat from any of its conditions for the release of 130 hostages held by the terror group since the October 7 massacre in southern Israel.
“We are committed to our demands: the permanent ceasefire, comprehensive and complete withdrawal of the enemy out of the Gaza Strip, the return of all displaced people to their homes, allowing all aid needed for our people in Gaza, rebuilding the Strip, lifting the blockade and achieving an honorable prisoner exchange deal,” he said.
Israel has insisted that it will only agree to a temporary pause in fighting and that the war will last until the terror group has been eliminated from Gaza in its entirety. It has rejected Hamas’s conditioning hostage releases on an end to the war and the withdrawal of IDF troops as “delusional.” READ MORE
